List of earthquakes in 2004


This is a list of earthquakes in 2004. Only earthquakes of magnitude 6 or above are included, unless they resulted in significant damage or casualties, or were notable for some other reason. All dates are listed according to UTC time. The year 2004 had the most major earthquakes since 1999. In total, there were 16 magnitude 7.0+ earthquakes this year, 6 of them were in Indonesia. The vast majority of the earthquake deaths in 2004 were caused by the magnitude 9.1–9.3 earthquake
off the west coast of Sumatra in December. Most of the deaths were caused by a devastating tsunami that spread across the Indian Ocean. There were several other deadly and destructive earthquakes, including Morocco's largest earthquake until 2023, which caused 628 deaths. Japan was hit by a magnitude 6.6 earthquake, which caused 68 deaths and $28 billion in damage, making it the sixth costliest earthquake in history.

Overall

By death toll

Note: At least 10 dead

By magnitude

Note: At least 7.0 magnitude

By month

January

February

March

  • A magnitude 5.6 earthquake struck Peloponnese, Greece on March 1 at a depth of. Balconies collapsed, many buildings were damaged and landslides occurred in the Kalamata area.
  • A magnitude 3.8 earthquake struck Adiyaman Province, Turkey on March 1 at a depth of. 6 people were killed and 2 people were injured.
  • A magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck Managua, Nicaragua on March 2 at a depth of.
  • A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck the Kermadec Islands, New Zealand on March 7 at a depth of.
  • A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck the northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge on March 8 at the depth of.
  • magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck the Kermadec Islands on March 9 at a depth of.
  • A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck Hihifo, Tonga on March 14 at a Depth.
  • A magnitude 6.1 Earthquake struck Tupiza, Bolivia on March 17 at a depth of.
  • A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck Kastrí, Greece on March 17 at a depth of.
  • A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck Inner Mongolia, China on March 24 at a depth of. 100 people were injured and 38,000 buildings were damaged.
  • A magnitude 5.6 earthquake struck Erzurum Province on March 26 at the depth of. 10 people were killed and 46 were injured.
  • A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck Tibet Autonomous Region, Tibet on March 27 at a depth of.
  • A magnitude 5.6 earthquake struck Erzurum Province on March 28 at the depth of. 12 people were injured and 50 buildings were damaged in 10 villages.

April

  • A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck Iwaki, Japan on April 3 at a depth of One person was injured in Naka.
  • A magnitude 6.6 earthquake struck the Hindu Kush Region on April 5 at the depth of. At least three people died and five were injured.
  • A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck the Chile Rise on April 8 at the depth of.
  • A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck Near Sola, Vanuatu at a depth of.
  • A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck West Sumatra, Indonesia on April 9 at a depth of Some houses were damaged in Padang.
  • A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck Bolu Province, Turkey on April 13 at depth of 5.0 km. Four people were injured in Bolu.
  • A magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck Kamchatka, Russia on April 14 at a depth of.
  • A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck Svalbard, Norway on April 14 at a depth of.
  • A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck Bali, Indonesia on April 16 at a depth of Some building were damaged.
  • A magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck the Savu Sea on April 23 at the depth of. Minor damage occurred in the Kupang area.
  • A magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck La Cruz, Costa Rica on April 27 at a depth of 10.0 km

May

  • A magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck Hualien City, Taiwan on May 1 at the depth of. Two people were killed and another was injured by a rockslide in Hualien County and a bridge collapsed at Taroko National Park.
  • A magnitude 6.6 earthquake struck the Bio-Bio Region, Chile on May 3 at the depth of. Minor damage and power outages occurred in the Cañete area.
  • A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck Qinghai, China on May 4 at a depth of 13.5 km. More than 3,100 houses were damaged and thousands of people were left homeless in Delingha.
  • A magnitude 5.0 earthquake struck Fars Province, Iran on May 8 at the depth of. Four buildings were destroyed and six others were damaged in the Kazerun-Qaemiyeh area.
  • A magnitude 4.5 earthquake struck Balochistan, Pakistan on May 8 at a depth of. One person was killed, thirty injured and minor damage was caused in Quetta.
  • A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck Balochistan, Pakistan on May 13 at a depth of. Three houses were damaged in Sibi.
  • A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck Kavieng, Papua New Guinea on May 13 at a depth of 10 km.
  • A magnitude 6.2 Earthquake struck Hengchun, Taiwan on May 19 at a depth of.
  • A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck Baladeh on May 28 at the depth of. 54 people were killed and 400 were injured.
  • A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck Katsuura, Japan on May 29 at a depth of.
  • A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck Sakhalin, Russia on May 30 at a depth of. 46 houses were damaged in Sakhalin.

June

July

  • A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck Doğubayazıt, Turkey on July 2 at a depth of. Eighteen people were killed.
  • A magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck Jumla, Nepal on July 11 at a depth of.
  • A magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck Kobarid, Slovenia on July 12 at the depth of. One person died and five others were injured by a rockslide at Bovec.
  • A magnitude 4.6 earthquake struck Herat Province, Afghanistan on July 18 at a depth of 10.0 km. 150 houses were damaged in the western part of the province.
  • A magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck the Fiji Islands on July 15 at the depth of.
  • A magnitude 5.6 earthquake struck Kawerau, New Zealand on July 18 at a depth of. One person died, two people were injured and five houses were severely damaged at Lake Rotomā.
  • A magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck Paktia Province, Afghanistan on July 18 at a depth of 10.0 km. Two people were killed, forty were injured and hundreds of houses were destroyed in Paktia.
  • A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck Vernon, Canada on July 19 at a depth of.
  • A magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck Sumatra, Indonesia on July 27 at a depth of.
  • A magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck Doğubayazıt, Turkey on July 30 at a depth of 5.0 km. One person was killed and five were injured.

August

  • A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck the Pacific-Antarctic Ridge on August 1 at a depth of.
  • A magnitude 5.6 earthquake struck Mugla Province, Turkey on August 4 at a depth of 10.0 km. Fifteen people were injured in Bodrum.
  • A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck Nikolski, Alaska on August 7 at a depth of.
  • A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck the Hindu Kush region, Afghanistan on August 10 at a depth of. Two people were injured in Mansehra, Pakistan.
  • A magnitude 5.4 earthquake struck Yunnan, China on August 10 at a depth of. Four people died, nearly 600 were injured and 84,157 homes were damaged or destroyed.
  • A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck Elazığ Province, Turkey on August 11 at a depth of. One person was killed, eleven were injured and some damage was caused.
  • A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck Cauca, Colombia on August 16 at a depth of. One people died, two others were injured, 30 homes were destroyed, and 50 others were damaged.
  • A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck Teno, Chile on August 28 at a depth of.

September

  • A magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck off the southern coast of Honshu, Japan on September 5 at a depth of. Four people were injured in Kyoto. This was a foreshock of the 7.4 earthquake several hours later.
  • A magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck off the southern coast of Honshu, Japan on September 5 at the depth of and a Modified Mercalli Intensity of V. Forty people were injured in Kyoto and a tsunami of around one metre was observed.
  • A magnitude 6.9 Earthquake struck the South Sandwich Islands on September 6 at a depth of.
  • A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck Catamarca Province, Argentina on September 7 at the depth of, One person died and several others were injured and some damage to buildings was caused in Catamarca.
  • A magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck Gansu Province, China on September 7 at a depth of 10.0 km. Nineteen people were injured, 600 houses were destroyed and 3,800 damaged in Gansu.
  • A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck off Luzon, Philippines on September 15 at a depth of. Power outages occurred in parts of Central Luzon.
  • A magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia on September 21 at a depth of. Three people were injured and seventeen houses were damaged at Kaliningrad. A railtrack was damaged in Svetlogorsk, while minor damage occurred in Suwałki, Poland. Damage was estimated to have exceeded 140 million rubles.
  • A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck Northern California on September 28 at a depth of. Minor damage was observed in Parkfield, San Miguel, and Shandon.

October

  • A magnitude 5.8 earthquake struck Tokyo, Japan on October 6 at a depth of. One person was injured and two houses were damaged in Tokyo.
  • A magnitude 5.6 earthquake struck Golestan province, Iran on October 7 at a depth of. Sixty people were injured.
  • A magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck Kirakira, Solomon Islands on October 8 at a depth of
  • A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off the coast of Nicaragua on October 9 at the depth of.
  • A magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck near Taiwan on October 15 at a depth of. Several people were injured and some damage was caused in Taipei.
  • A magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck Yunnan, China on October 18 at a depth of. Twelve people were injured and 20,000 buildings were damaged.
  • A magnitude 6.6 earthquake struck the Niigata Prefecture on October 23 at the depth of. 68 people were killed and 4,805 were injured.
  • A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck the Niigata Prefecture on October 23 at the depth of. It was an aftershock of the 6.6 earthquake only 7 minutes prior.
  • A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck the South Sandwich Islands at the depth of.
  • A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck Hokkaido, Japan on October 29 at a depth of.

November

December

  • A magnitude 4.5 earthquake struck Boumerdes on December 5 at the depth of 10 km. 46 people were injured in Zemmouri.
  • A magnitude 4.5 earthquake struck Hokkaido on December 14 at the depth of . 2 people were injured in Obira and another was injured in Haboro. Some buildings, roads and water lines were damaged at Tomamae.
  • A magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck off the southern coast of the Cayman Islands on December 14 at the depth of 10 km..
  • A magnitude 5.4 earthquake struck Muğla Province, Turkey on December 20 at the depth of. 3 people were injured and several buildings were damaged and rockslides occurred at Marmaris.
  • A magnitude 8.1 earthquake struck near Macquarie Island on December 23, at a depth of 10 km, and a Modified Mercalli Intensity of V.
  • A magnitude 9.2 earthquake struck Sumatra, Indonesia on December 26, at a depth of and a Modified Mercalli Intensity of IX, causing a destructive tsunami which killed at least 227,898 people, making it the deadliest tsunami ever recorded. The waves reached as far as Africa.
  • A magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck the Nicobar Islands on December 26, at a depth of and a Modified Mercalli Intensity of VI. It is an aftershock of the magnitude 9.2 earthquake 3 hours prior.
  • Note: Due to cluttering, the aftershocks of the 9.2 magnitude earthquake off the west coast of Sumatra on December 26 was excluded.